Down a Mountain
by Wolf Maid
Summary: McKay and Sheppard literally fall down a mountain! Sheppard is hurt and in the ensuing journey to the gate, they must try to get along. They fail. T for strong language, but in small doses. Early friendship.


Note: Most of my SGA stories are written under the presumption that sometime during The Eye Sora defects from the Genii and joins the Atlantis team....obviously I haven't seen it yet (USA), but chances are this is going to be AU.

(And it's a one-shot)

Oh...and it's implied W/S and McKay/Sora

Down a Mountain:

"Well, this is just ducky."

"Who the hell says 'ducky' anymore?"

"Obviously _I_ do!"

"Well, don't!"

"Look, McKay, you got us into this mess, and now we're lost in this huge forest, our radios aren't working, and most of our supplies are gone after being chased by those damn natives! If I want to say ducky I'm going to damn well say ducky!"

"Major—"

"Rodney! Shut up!" McKay fell silent in the face of Sheppard's obvious irritation. But not for long.

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"How the hell should I know? I lost our compass thingie when _someone_ fell into me and knocked me down a fucking MOUNTAIN!" Pause. Then, trying to control the anger in his voice: "Right now I'm trying to navigate by the sun. However, for all I know the sun moves differently around this planet. Any better ideas?" McKay shook his head.

They kept walking, stumbling over the thick roots and hidden potholes. Sheppard was trying his best not to move his right wrist—he was pretty sure it had been broken after falling down the mountain—but he hadn't mentioned it to McKay.

"Do you think Ford and Teyla are okay?" Sheppard asked at last. McKay looked up abruptly, and then realized his CO was probably beating himself up for losing them.

"I'm sure they're fine."

"Damnit!" Sheppard swore angrily. "I can't believe this happened!"

"It's not your fault," McKay told him, and then wondered when the hell he had become comforter. Sheppard coughed hoarsely, and McKay saw a spasm of pain flash across his face. McKay watched him…worriedly. Something was wrong.

"Major—"

"I'm fine, McKay. Let's keep going."

…

They had walked in silent for the last three hours, Sheppard simply too tired to talk. The coughing had increased, and although Sheppard insisted he was fine McKay had seen him wipe dark red flecks from his lips. There had to be internal damage…probably a broken rib.

Whatever it was, McKay was getting more and more worried. Sheppard wasn't acting at all like himself. McKay kept stealing glances at him, and was even more surprised when Sheppard didn't comment on it. Especially when he realized Sheppard hadn't even _noticed._

"McKay…" Sheppard spoke at last, his voice quiet.

"Yes?" McKay was instantly by his side.

"Sorry I was acting like a jerk earlier. I know this isn't your fault…just my bad luck." Sheppard began coughing again.

"Maybe you shouldn't talk, Major…" McKay was looking at Sheppard worriedly again.

"Maybe I should," Sheppard told him quietly, a grim note in his voice. "The radios still aren't working?"

"No…" McKay answered, feeling awful.

"All right. I need to tell you something…" This was eerily reminiscent of when they were stuck in the PJ in the Stargate, and the unsaid 'while I still can' hung in the air.

"Sit down, Major."

"No, McKay, listen to—"

"Major!" McKay's rare tone of authority so startled Sheppard that he not only fell silent, he sat. Or more accurately, fell. McKay crouched down next to him. "Major! Damnit Major, are you okay?" Sheppard didn't answer.

McKay grabbed Sheppard's shirt and carefully undid it and opened it. "God damnit…" he muttered, staring at Sheppard's chest. "I'm not a doctor! Well, I am but—"

"McKay?" Sheppard asked softly.

"Major?"

"I think…I think I have a broken rib." Sheppard let out a small moan. "Or two."

"Yeah…I figured."

"Do you…do you have any medication?" he gasped out. McKay winced—if _Sheppard_ was asking for medication, the pain was _bad_.

"I'll look…I'm not sure though. We lost an awful lot of supp—," McKay stopped as Sheppard began coughing again. "Damnit, John, you don't need painkillers, you need a damn doctor!"

"However, as there is no doctor here, the painkillers will have to do," Sheppard replied, giving McKay a cocky smile before dissolving into another bout of coughing.

"I don't know if you should have—"

"Rodney." Sheppard suddenly sounded weak. "_Please._"

"Look, Major, I'd love to give them to you, but the only ones we have left will put you to sleep. You need to be awake so we can get you to a doctor."

Sheppard closed his eyes for a moment. They were lost in a huge forest, veritable miles from the Stargate, with hardly any supplies, no food, and an angry native population out for blood. He wanted to tell McKay to give him the pills, that he knew he wasn't going to live, so why the hell did they have to keep up this charade? But he couldn't do it. Deep down he wasn't going to go down without a fight. And this world hadn't _begun_ to see Major John Sheppard fight.

He opened his eyes and nodded to McKay. "Help me up."

...

…

Sheppard wasn't walking so much as stumbling, and long ago they had both dumped anything and everything they could so McKay could help Sheppard along. About two hours ago it had begun raining, and the air had grown very cold as night descended. Neither were bothering to even _pretend_ they knew where they were going, simply trying to put one foot in front of the other. At last McKay broke the silence.

"We should probably rest, Major." He looked sideways at Sheppard, hoping the stubborn idiot would finally agree to take a break. He could barely walk for crying out loud!

"A little longer, I think…"

"I don't think so."

"McKay! Let's go!" McKay stopped and lowered a vainly resisting Sheppard to the ground.

"I don't think so," he repeated with a grin, glad the night hid his face.

"McKay!" Sheppard yelled, annoyed.

"Go to sleep."

"You are so—"

"Go to sleep."

"I want to keep—"

"Go to sleep."

"Shut up, Rodney!" McKay grinned. When did he have the chance to bully Sheppard?

"Go to sleep, now!"

"You can't order me around! I'm the Commanding officer!" Even Sheppard sounded a bit appalled at that.

"Trying to pull rank, _Major_?" McKay asked. "Well, here, at least have some water." Sheppard grumbled a bit. "Come on, John. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." Sheppard frowned a bit as his pain-filled mind tried to process that. At last he gave it up and grabbed the canteen.

McKay grinned as Sheppard drank up the water—and the dissolved painkillers. _Sweet dreams, John…_

…

Sheppard awoke with no small amount of surprise. When, exactly, had he gone to sleep? The last thing he remembered was drinking some water…

Damnit. Water. Water McKay had given him. Sheppard tried to sit up fast, pulled his broken ribs, and collapsed back down gasping at the sudden onslaught of pain.

McKay and his twin were looking down at him…except McKay didn't have a twin. Sheppard blinked once…twice…and one of the McKay's disappeared. "Wha—"

"Major, I need you to stand up for me, okay?"

"Wha—"

"Upsa-daisies." Slowly McKay pulled Sheppard up to a standing position.

"Ow."

"Major, we need to get going now, okay? Major?" McKay looked at Sheppard worriedly when he failed to respond.

"John…" Sheppard told him. McKay bit his lip.

"No, I'm Rodney. Remember, geeky scientist who always—"

"Says we're gonna die. I know, Rodney. _I'm _John." Sheppard managed a smile as McKay blew out in relief.

"Right. All right, _John_, let's go."

" 'kay." And so they walked—seconds to minutes, and, gradually, minutes to hours. The day was half-way gone when they reached a clearing that looked surprisingly familiar. _Too _familiar to be a coincidence.

"John…" McKay asked, looking around with sudden hope.

"Wha' Rodney?" Sheppard slurred out.

"Doesn't this place look familiar?" McKay tried to keep his voice from getting _too_ excited. Sheppard squinted around.

"Don't know," he told McKay at last, giving up the task of concentrating for the simpler on of trying to breathe.

"I'm sure…this is where the natives were!"

Sheppard blinked twice and frowned over at McKay. "That's a _bad_ thing, Rodney."

"Not necessarily."

"Yes, it is."

"Teyla! Ford!" McKay yelled, startling Sheppard.

"Shut up!" he whispered fervently at McKay.

"Teyla! Ford! Come here, Sheppard's hurt!"

"McKay! I swear, if—" Teyla and Ford ran out of the bushes to Sheppard's side. Sheppard looked at McKay in shock, but he merely gave him a cat-ate-the-canary grin. "How…?"

"Tell you later." McKay turned serious. "We need to get him to the Stargate _now._" Ford nodded and grabbed Sheppard's free arm and put it over his shoulder, matching McKay. Together, the two of them helped Sheppard back to the gate, with Teyla covering them.

…

"Incoming wormhole, Dr. Weir! It's Teyla's IDC, and they say they have injuries!"

"Med team to the gateroom, and lower the forcefield," Dr. Elizabeth Weir ordered. Seconds later McKay and Ford stepped through, bringing a battered Sheppard between them. Weir raised an eyebrow at the fact that her ranking military officer was hurt _again_.

"That man's a walking menace." She shook her head, her humor not even beginning to mask her worry.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Sheppard told her, managing a semblance of his cocky smile before breaking into a fit of coughing.

"I don't know…it looks pretty bad," Weir told him, long experience allowing to keep her personal feelings blocked behind her professional concerns.

"I'm fi—"

"He's got one or two broken ribs, internal bleeding, and God knows what else," McKay interrupted.

"_That_," Dr. Beckett announced, rushing up, "Is _not_ fine. Let's get him to the infirmary."

"Again?" Sheppard whispered, a half-smile on his lips.

"Yes, again." Beckett smiled down at him affectionately before frowning. "And it better be the last!" Sheppard glanced over at Weir and winked, and she quickly turned away to avoid laughing.

"You got it," Sheppard replied. Beckett rolled his eyes.

"And why don't I believe you?"

…

"Wye ameye heah?" Sheppard groaned, opening his eyes. Beckett's face swam above him.

"Awake, Major? Don't try to talk yet, you've got an oxygen mask on so I can't understand you, and you need to rest now anyway."

"Don' wanna…" Sheppard moaned. Beckett suppressed a grin.

"I understood _that_. I'm going to give you some meds to put you to sleep, so—" Sheppard's eyes flickered shut and he fell back unconscious. "…or not. I guess I'll wait on the meds." Glancing down at Sheppard and shaking his head, he added, "I swear he does that on purpose to save the meds…"

…

Sheppard snapped his eyes open and bolted up—or tried to. He got halfway up before the pain overwhelmed him and he fell back down. He lay there for several long moments feeling sick to his stomach. At last the dizziness passed, leaving him feeling weak.

"Major?" A quiet voice asked him from the foot of the bed. Slowly Sheppard reopened his eyes and saw McKay.

"Hey," Sheppard half-smiled at him.

"You okay?" McKay asked, sounding worried. Sheppard suppressed a grin—McKay was worried about _him._

"I'll be fine," Sheppard assured him, slowly and very carefully sitting up.

"Major?" McKay asked, handing Sheppard a glass of water.

"Yes, _Rodney_?" Sheppard replied, stressing the scientist's first name.

"Well…Major, I—" Sheppard raised any eyebrow and McKay swallowed self-consciously. "Fine…_John_…" Sheppard nodded, taking a sip. "I just wanted to—ah—apologize." Sheppard's eyes widened and he spat water all over the place and began coughing again.

"God damnit, Rodney!" Sheppard swore, holding his chest as it shook painfully. "That _hurts_!" McKay, twisting his hands nervously, nodded and turned to leave.

"Sorry Major…I…I better go…" McKay stumbled over the words. Sheppard's eyes widened.

"Rodney!" he forced out between coughs, catching McKay's arm with his hand. McKay turned to face him, looking miserable. Sheppard pulled him down so he was sitting on the bed and waited until the coughs subsided before beginning again. "Rodney, Rodney, Rodney." Sheppard shook his head in mock consternation and McKay managed a small smile.

"Yes, John?" Sheppard paused, trying to find the right words.

"Thank you for bringing me back." Sheppard looked vulnerable now, eyes wide, hair mussed, and curled up in the hospital bed as he was. "I don't know…" he stopped to clear his throat. "I don't know if I could've done it without you. Well, actually I do know. I wouldn't have been able to." McKay nodded, unsure, and they both looked away a bit as if not knowing what to do next.

"John, I…well…" McKay held out his hand as if to shake.

"Come here," Sheppard ordered, a hint of a smile on his lips as he pulled McKay into a careful hug, making sure not to hurt his tender ribs. McKay was stiff for a moment but then relaxed when he realized Sheppard wasn't mocking him but rather honoring him by allowing him to be one of the very few people who saw this side of him. All of the tension, worry, and fear just flowed out of him, leaving him feel tired yet rejuvenated.

They pulled apart then, and McKay unthinkingly ran his hand over Sheppard's hair, trying to smooth it down to no avail. Sheppard grinned and shoved McKay's hand off.

"You're not going to get it to lay down, trust me," he smirked. McKay shrugged.

"It was worth a try." He stood up and stretched. "Well, I better go…" McKay sighed.

"Of course, of course. Sora will be waiting," Sheppard teased. McKay turned bright red. "No, no, I understand. I'm sure you need to go work on some Ancient device or other. Sorry about teasing you, don't know what came over me. Now shoo."

"Um…okay. Bye…" McKay began walking out again.

"Oh—Rodney. In case you get thirsty I've—ah—got a bit of a private stash in my closet. There's a bottle of champagne in the Athosian basket with your name on it." Pause. Sheppard grinned. "After all, I'm sure those devices will thank you."

"Ah…thanks, John." McKay smirked as he was struck by another thought. "I hear Elizabeth is coming up…shall I get one for you as well?"

"Beckett would kill me," Sheppard grinned. "Now, shoo! Don't keep the lady waiting!" McKay nodded and left.

_He really isn't all that bad…_McKay and Sheppard thought in surprise.

_Why did I thank him? _Sheppard wondered. _After all, he was the one who pushed me down the mountain!_

_ Of course, he still is pigheaded and annoying as all get out!_ McKay added belatedly.

But after all, Atlantis wasn't built in a day.

Please R&R!!!


End file.
